The boy scribbled runes on stone floor of his home with a little nub of chalk. He had to work fast. They were going to take him away. Away from his friend and his nana. He didn’t like the other family. Sure they had a lot of toys, but he didn’t care. After eight years they wanted him back. The judge said he had to go. Nanna said he had to go. But nanna also said he was special. He had the Gift. he could do whatever he wanted, but he had to be careful.

“Actions have consequences, Joachim,” she said.

He was not supposed to use his powers unless it was an emergency. But he had to use them. He was not going to hurt anyone, just shut off the electricity. Everything worked with electricity: the television, the radios, the car. No electricity and the police could not take him away.

He looked out the window when he heard sound of a car engine. His nanna talked to the police. She would fetch him. He ran back to the circle, knelt in the middle and with one last trace, closed it.

The incantation worked. The boy collapsed.

Dead.

The birds in the sky crashed to the ground.

Dead.

His grandmother, the social worker, the police officers and every villager within a square mile fell.

Dead.

For Joachim Sobieski was an arcanist, a mage that could change the very fabric of reality. But his nanna was right, actions have consequences.

Unknown,

Unseen,

Unpredictable,

Unfortunate.

Electricity powers all things mechanical and biological. Joachim bent reality too far and it snapped back. In a single moment, the veil between the mundane and the supernatural collapsed.

A desperate boy, just eight years old, taught the world the meaning of the phrase, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”